Top 5 female surfers of 2011 ASP Women’s World Tour – Part 5
5. Silvana Lima
The 26-year-old Brazilian is one of the most progressive surfers on Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Top 17 and never fails to impress with her outstanding aerials and power gouges. Lima combines her fitness, skills and experience for a lethal
combination and always manages to make a solid impact in competitions.
Ever since her inception among the elite ranks in 2006, the Brazilian sensation has been consistently cementing her place within the Top 10 on the ASP Women’s World Rankings. In 2008 and 2009, she nearly got her hands on the Women’s World Tour title, but
eventually lost it to Australian power house, Stephanie Gilmore.
The 2011 season of Women’s World Tour turned out to be yet another impressive campaign for Lima. Although she was deprived of an event victory for the entire season, she did manage to make her way into the quarter-finals and semi-finals on most occasions.
This was no small achievement considering the level of talent that she was up against.
As the latest season of the ASP Women’s World Tour kicked off with the Roxy Pro in Australia, Lima instantly made her excellent form apparent. Since the very first round, she seemed as deadly as ever, mercilessly taking down her opponents to gradually make
her way further in the competition.
As she made her way into the quarter-finals, she came face-to-face with Australia’s Tyler Wright, a ASP World Tour rookie. The battle between the two ladies turned out to be real intense, though Wright managed to take the win in the end, forcing Lima out
of the race for the event title.
Reaching the quarter-finals at the very first stop of the current season, the Brazilian entered the second elite Tour event, Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in Australia, soaring with confidence. She was also determined to not let herself get taken down after
getting so close to the title shot. While the new resolve managed to get her past this quarter-final stage this time, she was unable to overcome Hawaii’s Carissa Moore in the semi-finals, consequently getting eliminated.
The Subaru Pro TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival in New Zealand saw a determined Lima make her way unsteadily through the first three rounds. However, the failure to find her rhythm eventually proved costly for her, forcing her to make an early exit after losing
to France’s Pauline Ado in Round 4.
Lima returned back to Australia for the fourth event on ASP Women’s World Tour, Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic. She seemed to be in a much better form this time, going through the early rounds with impressive wins to eventually enter the quarter-final
stage. Despite looking so good over the last few days, she was unable to take down Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich in the quarter-finals and had to once again move out of the contention after getting such an amazing start.
The fifth stop on the elite Tour, Billabong Rio Pro, brought Lima to her own backyard, Brazil. The 26-year-old looked at ease while competing in the familiar waves and had no problem clinching victories in her heats early in the competition. She successfully
passed through the quarter-finals as well, but once again saw herself pitted against Moore in the semi-finals. The Hawaiian proved a bit too much for Lima once again, leaving her to settle for an equal third position in the competition.
Lima remained impressive in the early rounds at Roxy Pro in France as well, but once again failed to hold her nerves once she reached the crucial stages of the competition. She ended up surrendering victory to Ado for the second time this season.
The final stop of the 2011 Women’s World Tour, Nike US Open of Surfing, turned out to be the second disappointing stop for the Brazilian this year. While she had maintained an intimidating status in nearly all the previous stops, save one, she was unable
to get her momentum going at Nike US Open of Surfing and end ended up paying dearly for it, losing to America’s Courtney Conlogue in after just reaching Round 4.
Even though Lima failed to secure a single event-win this season, her consistency to find a place in the quarter-finals or semi-finals allowed her to finish No.5 on ASP Women’s World Title Rankings. This was no small feat as she was up against the best from
around the globe. Despite faltering in the crucial stages, the overall form of the Brazilian was undeniable and it seemed to be more of a case of nerves rather than form that deprived her of a single event victory this season.
She was without any doubt one of the most entertaining and fierce competitor during the 2011 season of ASP World Tour.
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